Dr Soum Rakshit, CEO & Co-Founder, MysteryVibe
The Industry Leaders talks with Dr Soum Rakshit, CEO and Co-Founder of MysteryVibe, who incorporated his skills in electronics with the knowledge of sexual health experts, to create a company making sexual health solutions accessible to all.
How did you end up sitting where you are today?
Through various iterations of my career and my life, one constant was how to keep the mystery alive in the bedroom. We all undergo major life events - childbirth, menopause, ageing, cancer. And a big part of our lives that gets adversely affected is our sexual health. Yet hardly anyone talks about it, and less than one in four seek professional help. That’s why I set out to change that, bringing together my extensive electronics expertise with expert medical professionals to create devices and content to make sexual health solutions accessible to all.
What kind of work does your role involve?
The core of my work consists of product research and development and speaking with customers, patients, doctors and healthcare professionals on how our current products are working, where we can improve, and what new products we need to build. Alongside this, there are always fundraising and marketing activities going on in the background.
What gets you excited about your industry?
Sexual technology is a nascent industry, which is still finding its structure and is largely decentralised. It’s an exciting time and opportunity to be involved because the possibilities and avenues are endless. Plus, it’s an industry whose core values centre around empathy and human happiness. Everyone in this industry is trying to make a difference, not a quick buck.
What's the best advice anyone ever gave you?
I would say my top one is actually two as I can’t do without either of them:
1. “It’s not what you know or who you know. It’s knowing who knows what.”
2. “You never know what someone is going through. Be kind. Always.”
How do you support aspiring leaders in your field?
By being generous with my time. And sharing all the mistakes I made, what I learnt from them and how they can look out for those and avoid them.
How do you keep up to speed with what's happening in your industry?
I keep up by talking to, supporting and asking for help from other founders in our industry. Luckily it’s a small industry with less than 20 companies in the whole world, so it’s very easy to keep in touch with each other.
What was the most challenging project or situation you've overcome?
The most challenging situation I've been in was raising money for the first time from external investors. To overcome this, I invested my own money into building the prototype and taking it to a stage where it was fully functional, and that brought our dreams to life to the investors. They happily backed us with funding after that.
You finish work today and step outside the office to find a lottery ticket that ends up winning $10 million. What would you do?
Give it to the lottery company to find the rightful owner of that ticket.
How do you define failure?
The outcomes that teach you the most, as failure actually teaches success.
If you had one wish for the future of your industry, what would it be?
It would be for sexual health to be seen as an intrinsic part of our general and overall health.
What book or podcast should everyone know about?
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE. Read it to appreciate that kind of perseverance is the key to building long term value.
How should people connect with you?
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